Set Up and Maintenance of the Worm Bin

Set Up and Maintenance of the Worm Bin

Bedding: Lots of possibilities but I use strips of torn newspaper about one inch wide.  But before I start putting the bedding into the bin I put in several layers of folded DRY newspaper on the base.  This is to act as a sponge to absorb the excess moisture that ends up at the bottom of the bin.  If I suspect that the moisture level is getting too high in the bottom of the bin I will dump the whole bin into a larger container and replace these folded newspapers with dry ones.  The wet ones that I remove can be torn into strips to make more worm bedding.  After the layer of dry newspaper I put in 6 to 8 inches of newspaper strips that are damp.  The worms or vermiculture from another bin are then added to the bedding.

Top Dress this with dry newspaper strips and then folded sheets of dry newspaper.  This helps keep the sides and top free of condensate (liquid moisture).  If you see condensate on the inside of the lid and insides of the bin, then it is time to add more dry paper to the top dressing and to dump the bin and add more dry folded newspaper to the base.  When there is condensate present on the inside walls of the bin above the top dressing the worms will soon follow.  If the sides are wet, the worms will crawl up the inside walls of the bin and even across the inside of the lid, also under the lip of the lid but not out of the bin.

Add Baited Fly Trap now as a precaution or later as needed.  The issue is to capture the adult flies inside the bin before they mate and lay their eggs and keep them out of your home.  To make the trap cut a small plastic bottle in half.  Invert top half into bottom half.  Bait with 1 TBS water, 1TBS honey, 1TBS Apple Cider Vinegar and two drops of liquid dish soap.  Tape the two halves of bottle together.  Set the trap in a corner of the bin with the top level with the layer of newspaper.  Replenish the bait if you see adult flies inside the bin but not in the trap.  It works for two to three weeks before it loses its appeal.

Feed with the appropriate amount of food for your worm population.  If you start with 50 to 100 worms like I did you can only add 58 grams of scraps and then wait until they have eaten that before you add more – very tedious I assure you.  It will take a year to build your population up to a pound of worms.  If you start with one pound of worms then you can put in a half a pound of scraps one week to one end of the bin and then a half pound to the other end the next week and so forth.  If you have four bins like I do with two pounds of worms per bin you can put 2 lbs (1/2 gal) of scraps in the front of bin one and then rotate to the front of bin two next, then bin three and finally bin four.  Then to the back of bin one, two, three and finally four – eight positions total.  Then it is back to bin1 front position.  It takes me roughly 28 days to make the complete cycle and the food in the front of bin one is nearly all digested when I start the next cycle.  If you add too much food for your worm population to keep up with, then it will decompose before they eat it and you run the risk of unpleasant odors associated with the rotting food.  Burying the food deep in the bedding will help.  Better to put your excess in the trash or in a compost bin until your worm population can keep up.

Food consists of all garbage that is vegetable (plant) matter or of vegetable origin.  I do not compost meat, fish or dairy products.  The issue is odor.  I do compost citrus (oranges, lemons, grapefruit, and limes) but not in huge quantities.  The issue is acidity.  Paper towels are fine.  Tea bags and coffee filters compost as well.  I microwave my egg shells and pulverize them in a food processor before composting.  This is to get smaller pieces of egg shell.

To control fruit flies bury fresh garbage deep in the bedding.  Keep the lid on the bin so that new flies can’t visit.  The screens over the vents are to keep visitors out and those in the bin in.  The fly trap in the bin eventually cleans out the hatching resident larva.  A fly trap in the vicinity of the bin but outside keeps any escapees or visitors under control.  I also keep a trap by the container in the kitchen where the week’s garbage accumulates before I bury it in the bin.